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How did janie display character development while watching god
How did janie display character development while watching god
Janie's growth in their eyes watching god
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Who is the Best Man
Janie struggles with her marriages with Logan Killicks and Joe Starks throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, but finds a good man and husband in Tea Cake. Logan goes to marry Janie because Janie’s grandmother forces her to marry him because Nanny wants her to have a good marriage and thinks Logan can give it to her. While Joe comes in and shows Janie he has authority and is loving, but later tries to control her and what she does. Tea Cake on the other hand show Janie love and is willing to let Janie be herself and do the things she likes to do. Janie doesn’t love Logan or Joe because they try to change and control her, while Tea Cake loves her for who she really is.
Logan wants to
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marry Janie because he wants help with the land, but Janie is looking for what she thinks loves looks like. Janie is sitting by a pear tree and is thinking about love and what it really means to her when “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from the root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight” (Hurston 11). This shows what Janie feels that love will be like. Unfortunately, Logan doesn’t understand that Janie is just a love-seeking teenager that wants a husband that will spend time with her and love her. He just wants a wife to help him clean up and take care of the land that he owns, and Janie doesn’t want that. One day before Logan leaves to go to town he tells Janie “Ah aims tuh run two plows, and dis man Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout is got ud mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im”(27). Logan is talking about getting another mule for Janie to use to help plow the fields with him. Janie doesn’t like this because Logan is leaving her there alone and not letting her with and do things with her husband. Also she realizes that Logan has stopped talking to her in rhymes to her and being nice and kind of expects her to work with her and she does not see of herself as a working wife. Therefore, Logan Killicks may still be a good guy, but he maybe not be the right guy for Janie. Janie leaves Logan for a young and thoughtful Joe Starks who takes Janie and they move away to Eatonville where Joe feels like he can make the town better so he buys some land to add on to the town, then becomes mayor of Eatonville.
Later on in the night Coker is talking about Joe and says ” You oughta know you can’t take no ‘oman lak dat from no man lak him. A man dat ups and buys two hundred acres uh land at one whack and pays cash for it”(38). Coker is talking about Joe and how it was strange for a man to just walk into town and buy two hundred acres for it, and that people pretty much need to respect him because he has plans to help the town grow. Joe is trying to show that he has power and money for the town to grow. Then, later on in the night Coker is talking to Hicks about Joe and his plans and says “Ain’t never seen no sich uh colored man befo’ in all mah bawn days. He’s gointuh put up uh store and git uh post office from de Goven’ment” (38). Joe takes control in Eatonville, but during all this, Janie is kind of shoved to the side and doesn’t get to really communicate and interact with others. Joe wants her to keep a high reputation, so he doesn’t let her speak to anyone besides the ones that come in the store. So, therefore Joe Starks is not the right man or husband for
Janie. After Joe dies, Janie is upset that he is gone, but rejoiced because she is free to do and talk to anyone she wants. One day while she is in the shop, a man walks in and starts talking and joking with Janie. She finds out his name is Tea Cake and starts to flirt with him. After he sits around and talks to her after a while, he starts to teach Janie how to play checkers. While they are playing Tea Cake makes a move and they are saying” Ah got uh right tuh take it. You left it right in mah way.” “Yeah, but Ah wuz lookin; off when you went and stuck yo’ men right up next tuh mine. No fair”(96). This little act of playfulness shows that Tea Cake wants Janie to be involved in other things besides running a store. Janie then goes to Jacksonville to be with Tea Cake and marry him. They meet there and get married, but Janie doesn’t tell Tea Cake that she hid two hundred dollars in her dress in case he didn’t have the money to pay for things that night. Then, the next morning Janie wakes up to see that Tea Cake and the two hundred dollars are gone. She is worried but not about the money but that she had trusted a man that just wanted her for a quick hit and then leave. But Tea Cake came back and explains what happened. When he gets back he says “Ah see whut it is. You doubted me ‘bout de money. Thought Ah had done took it and gone. Ah don’t blame yuh but it wasn’t lak you think. De girl baby ain’t born and her mama is dead, dat can git me tuh spend our money on her”(121). Tea Cake proves that he really does love Janie and won’t leave her. He also show later how he will do what he says he’s going to do, like when he says he’s going to win Janie’s money back and he does. This shows that Tea Cake truly loves Janie and wants to be with her no matter where they go. Finally, Janie doesn’t find the right man in Logan Killicks because she is a young and playful teenager that wants to do things with her husband besides work on a farm. She also does not find the right man for her in Joe Starks because Joe never lets her go and participate in any conversations or activities. But finally, Janie finds a good man and a good husband in Tea Cake because he loves her and wants them to do things together and be happy.
Finding one’s soul mate is a difficult and lengthy process for most, as it is for Janie in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She marries Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake Woods who seem to be alike; however, the motives for the actions they each take are completely different.
In Janie and Joe’s marriage, Joe tries to force Jaine into submission, abuses her, and makes her lose herself. When Joe constantly brushes off Janie's suggestions to improve his illness he says: "All you got tuh
..., she found her identity. It did not come easy for Janie. It took her years to find out who she really was.
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
Though Janie had three marriages in total, each one drew her in for a different reason. She was married off to Logan Killicks by her Grandmother who wanted her to have protection and security. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, its protection.” (Hurston 15) says Janie’s grandmother when Janie said she did not want to marry Logan. Though Janie did not agree with her grandmother, she knew that she just wanted what’s best for her. Next, she married Joe Starks, Janie was unsatisfied with her marriage to Logan so Joe came in and swept her off her feet. Janie did not like the fact that Logan was trying to make her work, so Joe’s proposition, “You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated like a lady and ah want to be de one tuh show yuh.” (Hurston 29) was too good to pass up, so she left Logan and married Joe. Janie’s last marriage was to Tea Cake. Fed up after having been treated poorly by Joe, Janie finally found someone who liked her for who she was. “Naw, ...
In Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie discovers herself through her relationships with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake. Each marriage brings her closer to that one thing in life she dreams to have, love. Janie is a woman who has lived most of her life the way other people thought she should. Her mother leaves alone when she is young, and her grandmother , raises her. Nanny has a very strict set of rules for right and wrong, and clearly stated/particular ideas about freedom and marriage. Janie then sees the same restrictions put on her by her later husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Only the fact she catches
Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neale Hurston in the year of 1937. In the novel, the main character is Janie Crawford. Janie has been treated differently by others during her life because of how she was raised and the choices she has made throughout her life. The community is quick to judge her actions and listen to any gossip about Janie in the town. Janie is known to be “classed off” from other members in her community in various ways. “Classed off” means to be separate or isolated from other people.
In the beginning of the story, Janie is stifled and does not truly reveal her identity. When caught kissing Johnny Taylor, a local boy, her nanny marries her off to Logan Killicks. While with Killicks, the reader never learns who the real Janie is. Janie does not make any decisions for herself and displays no personality. Janie takes a brave leap by leaving Killicks for Jody Starks. Starks is a smooth talking power hungry man who never allows Janie express her real self. The Eatonville community views Janie as the typical woman who tends to her husband and their house. Janie does not want to be accepted into the society as the average wife. Before Jody dies, Janie is able to let her suppressed anger out.
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” From the moment one is born, one begins to form their identity through moments and experiences that occur throughout the years. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s identity of independence arises through her past marriages through the words and actions of her husbands.
Janie marries three different men over the course of Their Eyes Were Watching God: Logan Killicks, Joe (Jody) Stark, and Tea Cake. Janie is able to preserve her agency in these marriages via an internal rebellion, she uses her thoughts to remain happy and outside the world her husband’s create. It is often the case that husbands expects a marriage where the female is subordinate to them and even Janie’s grandmother suggests Janie should abide by this expectation. However, Janie creates a space in her mind for an idealistic relationship and a place that her husband’s cannot touch. This ...
When thinking about the novels that are read in high school, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby come to mind for most people. The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston usually is not thought of. Throughout the years, critics believed Hurston’s novel to be just fiction and that it pose no meaning. In spite of the novel not having much politics, it does contain many social issues from the past that are still somewhat relevant today. Above all, Their Eyes Were Watching God deals with the way people are unequally treated in society based on their gender, race, or anything that makes them diverse from others. It is probable that Hurston brings up the controversial issues of her time era in the hope to cause a transformation in the world.
The Harlem Renaissance was all about freedom of expression and the search for one's identity. Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows these goals through the main character Janie and her neighbors. Janie freely expressed what she wanted and searched for her identity with her different husbands. Even though Janie was criticized by everyone except her friends, she continued to pursue. She lost everything, but ultimately found her identity. Hurston's writing is both a reflection and a departure from the idea of the Harlem Renaissance.
Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, nature is used to tell and help visualize Janie’s story. Each of the objects symbolizes certain aspects of Janie’s life and connects to her experiences. These ideas are portrayed through nature: the pear tree, the bee and flower, and the sun and horizon are all examples in the story. While all of these show the beauty in nature, the destruction it can cause is shown through the hurricane. Nature is shown as both a beautiful and destructive force to convey the connection it has with life.
In the beginning of the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a naive and curious young woman. Her naivety leaves her longing for a loving marriage; her curiosity leads her looking for something greater than what she has. This leads her to leave Logan, her first husband, for Joe Starks who she falls for due to his ambitious personality. As Joe’s wife, she comes to the realization that the expectations of the marriage she
Zora Neale Hurston once said, “Happiness is nothing but everyday living seen through a veil.” In post-slavery African American society, this statement was unusual, as society was focused on materialistic values. The “veil” Hurston mentions is a lens used to sift through one’s beliefs; to help one understand that what they have is more important than what they don’t. Hurston alludes the veil in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in the form of a fish-net, saying “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it in from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulders" (193). Just like the veil, the “fish-net” allows one to sift through one’s beliefs, deciding what is important and what is not. Essentially, Hurston